Michelle Obama lives in arguably the most prestigious home in America. In 2009, she dug up a portion of the South Lawn and installed an organic vegetable garden to provide fresh produce for the White House kitchen. Short of the chemical companies who produce pesticides – definitely not allowed in an organic garden – who could complain about such a plan? It’s a great example of sourcing foods locally and Washington DC school children have had the chance to dig in the dirt, learning just where their food comes from.
It’s a good thing the White House isn’t located in Oak Park, Michigan.
The Bass family's front yard vegetable garden.
When the Bass family decided to plant a vegetable garden in place of their front lawn, Oak Park city officials asked them to move the garden to the backyard.
“Five beds, six yards of compost, about 90 plants – but most important of all, on principle — no!!!!” says Julie Bass.
Short of a little container gardening, this is the first time the Bass family has grown a garden. But instead of focusing their efforts on developing new gardening skills and harvesting the fruits of their labor, Julie Bass, a mother of six, finds herself facing a court battle and possibly jail time.
Over a vegetable garden.
Read the rest of Kris Bordessa’s post over at GeekMom.
